1840.] Memoir of Sylhet, Kachar, ^ adjacent Districts . 835 



assemblies, without which nothing is decided either among the com- 

 munity collectively, or the villages separately. 



Destruction of human life, whether by accident or design, in open 

 war or in secret, is always the cause of feud among the relations of the 

 parties, which are terminated only by reprisals, or a compensation in 

 money. 



The equipment of a Khyee chief is martial and striking in appearance ; 

 a tunic of strong cloth, bordered by party colors, without sleeves, well 

 adapted to muscular exertions, sits close to his body above the waist ; 

 an ample shield of buffaloe hide or brass is slung at his back, and leaves 

 him at liberty to employ both his hands either with the bow, the javelin, 

 or a powerful two-handed sword which hangs by his side. This sword 

 is unique in kind, and more like the German or Swiss weapon than any 

 thing Indian. The bow is of bamboo, and is fitted with a slip of the 

 same substance in place of twine, as it never softens in rain, and is 

 equally useful in all weathers. It is to the credit of the Khyee that 

 though acquainted with the use of poisoned arrows they never employ 

 them against their fellow men in war, but only in the chase against 

 wild beasts. A series of destructive defeats during a protracted con- 

 test with the Government troops has not entirely destroyed the mar- 

 tial disposition of this people, who probably still retain the remem- 

 brance of those days in which their fathers pillaged both Sylhet and 

 Assam. 



Conjecture is lost in assigning a probable origin to the Khyees. Seg- 

 regated strictly in a tract of country as different from the neighbour-, 

 hood as they themselves are from the other tribes, they seem to owe 

 the retention of their independence entirely to their personal qualities, 

 as their mountains are by no means difficult of access. I am quite 

 sensible that verbal analogy affords but a slight foundation on which to 

 build an hypothesis, but I may nevertheless mention, that a people resem- 

 bling the Khyee in some particulars formerly occupied a position on 

 the south bank of the Brahmaputra at Measpara, where they were called 

 Mek ; they were known to have come originally from the frontiers of 

 Butan and Nipal; the Khyee are called Mike by the Kacharis, and 

 their customs in regard to marriage assimilate to those of Butan. The 

 theory which would assign a western origin to the Khyee is counten- 

 anced by their appearance, and especially by the absence in them of 



